That the NATO violated the international law by bombing the FRY in 1999 was
clearly recognized in March 2014 by at that time Germany's cancellor (the PM)
Gerhard Schreder (ɇɨɜɚ ɫɪɩɫɤɚ ɩɨɥɢɬɢɱɤɚ ɦɢɫɚɨ, March 10th, 2014:
11

&RVWLV +DGMLPLFKDOLV Ä.RVRYR 'D\V RI DQ 8QGHFODUHG DQG 8QMXVW :DU $
*HRSROLWLFDO &RPPHQW³ European Urban and Regional Studies, 7 (2), 2000, pp.
175180.
6
On the issue of used depleted uranium by the NATO during the Persian Gulf War
DQGWKH.RVRYR:DUVHH'DUU\O3$UIVWHQ.HQQHWK56WLOO*OHQQ'5LWFKLHÄ$
Review of the Effects of Uranium and Depleted Uranium Exposure on Reproduction
DQG)HWDO'HYHORSPHQW³Toxicology and Industrial Health, 17, 2001, pp. 180191. It
KDVWREHQRWLFHGWKDWWKHGHSOHWHGXUDQLXPZDVXVHGE\WKH1$72µVIRUFHVLQ
bombing of the FRY in armour-penetrating munitions, military vehicle armor, and
aircraft, ship and missile counterweighting and ballasting applications. The combat
applications of the depleted uranium alloy in the Persian Gulf War and the Kosovo
:DU UHVXOWHG LQ KXPDQ DFXWH H[SRVXUH WR WKH GHSOHWHG XUDQLXPµV GXVW YDSRU RU
aerosol, and to the chronic exposure from tissue embedding of the depleted uraniuPµV
shrapnel fragments.
7
On the universal human and minority rights, see: Will Kymlicka (ed.), The Rights of
Minority Cultures, OxfordNew York: Oxford University Press, 2000; Jan Knippers
Black, The Politics of Human Rights Protection, Lanham, Maryland: Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010; Dinah L. Shelton, Paolo G. Carozza, Regional
Protection of Human Rights: Basic Documents, OxfordNew York: Oxford
University Press, 2013. It has to be stressed that the Albanian minority in Serbia
within the region of Kosovo & Metohija in the Socialist Yugoslavia enjoyed all kind
of minority rights according to the international law and even above it. The region has
its own president, constitution, parliament, police, academy of science, law, press,
education system, etc. In the other words, Albanian-run and dominated Kosovo &
Metohija was in fact an independent political subject in Yugoslavia equal with all
Yugoslavia's republics. Within such political conditions Kosovo Albanians developed
a high range of the policy of the oppression and expulsion from the region of the
ethnic Serbs with a strong tendency to separate the region from the rest of Serbia and
include it into a Greater Albania. What MiloãHYLü¶V JRYHUQPHQW GLG LQ LW ZDV
abolishment of just political independence of both autonomous regions in Serbia ±
Vojvodina and Kosovo & Metohija in order to protect the country from territorial
destruction. However, even after 1989 Kosovo Albanians enjoyed minority rights
according to the basic standards of the international law. Many minorities in Europe
or elsewhere today can just dream about minority rights left to Kosovo Albanians by
6HUELD¶VJRYHUQPHQWLQ)RUWKHPDWWHURIFRPSDULVRQIRULQVWDnce, the Kurds in
13

James Pettifer, The Kosova Liberation Army: Underground War to Balkan
Insurgency, 19482001, London: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, 2012, the back
cover. This book is official history of the KLA ordered and financed by the Albanianrun Kosovo government composed by the KLA veterans.
22
Sinisa Ljepojevic, Kosovo Murky Reality, Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorsHouse,
2008, p. 1.
23
See pro-Albanian and pro-western points of view on historical background for the
KLA with described its activities up to and including the NATO intervention: Henry
H. Perritt Jr. Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of An Insurgency, University
of Illinois, 2008. The Albanian KLA is not lesser separatist and terrorist than, for
instance, the Kurdish PKK. However, it is allowed for the Turkish government by the
ÄLQWHUQDWLRQDO³FRPPXQLW\WRXVHDOOOHJDODQGRWKHUPHDQVWRILJKWWKH3..LQFOXGLQJ
and a clear violation of the human rights. On the question of the PKK party, see: Ali
Kemal Özcan, 7XUNH\¶V .XUGV $ 7KHRUHWLFDO $QDO\VLV RI WKH 3.. DQG $EGXOODK
Öcalan, LondonNew York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006; Aliza
Marcus, Blood and Belief: The Kurdish Fight for Independence, New YorkLondon:
New York University Press, 2007; Abdullah Öcalan, Prison Writings: The PKK and
the Kurdish Question in the 21st Century, London: Transmedia Publishing Ltd, 2011;
Charles Strozier, James Frank, The PKK: Financial Sources, Social and Political
Dimensions, VDM-Verlag Dr. Müller, 2011.
23

On the ISIS, see [Lincoln J., ISIS: The Rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,
Kindle edition, 2014; Knight J. C., ISIS: Origin of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,
Kindle edition, 2014; Sekulow J., ISIS: A Threat We Can't Ignore, New York:
Howard Books, 2014; Fisk Z., The Terror of ISIS: Assessing the Real Threat Posed by
the Islamic State, Blowfish LLC, 2014].
32

On the radical Islam at the Balkans and its ideology and doctrine, see [Deliso Ch.,
The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West,
:HVWSRUW&RQQHFWLFXWí/RQGRQ3UDHJHU6HFXULWL,QWHUQDWLRQDO%HUJHP3HG
Talibanistan: The Borders Between Terror, Politics, and Religion 2[IRUGí1HZ
York: Oxford University Press, 2013].
34
On historical development and identity of Bosnia-HeU]HJRYLQD¶V 0XVOLP
community, see [Donia J. R., Fine Jr. J., Bosnia and Hercegovina: A Tradition
Betrayed, New York: Columbia University Press, 1994; Pinson M. (ed.), The Muslims
35

On destruction of the Serbian Christian property and pogrom of the Serbs by
Kosovo Muslim Albanians see, for instance [March Pogrom in Kosovo and Metohija.
March 1719, 2004 with a survey of destroyed and endangered Christian cultural
heritage, Belgrade: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia0XVHXPLQ3ULãWLQD
(displaced), 2004].
37

For
example,
on
the
Jihad
in
Bosnia-Herzegovina,
see
[http://www.nspm.rs/komentar-dana/dzihad-u-sarajevu.html]. About the CIA and Al
Qaeda at the Balkans, see [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1394711/posts].
38

)RULQVWDQFHDERXW5XVVLD¶VLQIOXHQFHLQ6HUELDIURPWKHHQGRIWKHth century to
the mid-19th century, see in (ɉɨɩɨɜ, 1870).
52
About history of the Cold War, see in (Lewis, 2005; Zubok, 2007).
53
About the end of the USSR, see in (Plokhy, 2014).
50

About Boris Yeltsin and Russia in his time, see in (Colton, 2008; Curtis, 2014).
$ERXW WKH 1$72¶V PLOLWDU\ intervention in 1999 against Serbia and Montenegro,
see in (Gibbs, 2009; Phillips, 2012).
57
66

After the final withrowal of all military forces from Kosovo-Metohija in 2003,
Russia opened in Prishtina a Representative Office (Hofbauer, 2009, 151)
70
About discussion on the origins of the WWI, see in (Ȼʁɟɥɚʁɚɰ, 2014).
59

About the post-Cold War western supremacy in the global politics and international
relations, see in (Mayer, 2014; Pijl, 2014). About a typical example of the western
WKH86¶FRORQy in the region, Kosovo-Metohija as a part of the Pax Americana, see
in (Hofbauer, 2009). On the relations between the NATO and the European Union,
see in (Simon, 2013). About the history of a greater concept of the East Europe
between the Germans and the Russians, see in (Bideleux & Jeffries, 1999; Janos,
2000).
64

The region of Kosovo (under such name known in the western politics and science)
is traditionally and historically called by the Serbs as Kosovo-Metochia, while by the
Albanians as Kosova or Kosovë. The western portion of the region is Metochia and
the eastern one is Kosovo.
81
³ɘɠɧɭɸɈɫɫɟɬɢɸɫɦɟɪɢɥɢɤɨɫɨɜɫɤɢɦɜɡɝɥɹɞɨɦ´, Ʉɨɦɦɟɪɫɚɧɬ, 15. 11. 2006:
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/721626.
82
On history, antropology, religion and ethnography of the Caucasus, see: N. Griffin,
Caucasus: A Journey To The Land Between Christianity And Islam (Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 2004); B. Grant, L. Yalcin-Heckmann (eds.), Caucasus
Paradigms: Antropologies, Histories and The Making of A World Area (LIT Verlag,
2007); Ch. King, The Ghost of Freedom: A History of The Caucasus 2[IRUGí1HZ
York: Oxford University Press, 2008); Th. De Waal, The Caucasus: An Introduction
2[IRUGí1HZ <RUN 2[IRUG 8QLYHUVLW\ 3UHVV - )RUV\WK The Caucasus: A
History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013); A. Tsutsiev, Atlas of The
Ethno-Political History of The Caucasus (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014);
G. M. Hahn, 7KH &DXFDVXV (PLUDWH 0XMDKHGLQ*OREDO -LKDGLVP LQ 5XVVLD¶V 1RUWK
Caucasus and Beyond (McFarland & Company, 2014). On ethnopolitical conflicts in
the Caucasus, see: S. E. Cornell, Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of
Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus /RQGRQí1HZ <RUN 5RXWOHGJH&XU]RQ
2001); E. Souleimanov, Understanding Ethnopolitical Conflict: Karabakh, South
76

Ossetia, and Abkhazia Wars Reconsidered (New <RUNí/RQGRQ3DOJUDYH0DF0LOODQ
2013).
83
On self-SURFODPDWLRQ RI WKH VWDWH¶V LQGHSHQGHQFH E\ $ENKD]LD DQG 6RXWK 2VVHWLD
and followed war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008, see: S. E. Cornell, S.
F. Starr (eds.), 7KH *XQV RI $XJXVW 5XVVLD¶V War in Georgia (M. E. Sharpe,
2009); R. D. Asmus, A Little War That Shook The World: Georgia, Russia, and The
Future of The West (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2010); D. Gierycz, The
Mysteries of The Caucasus (Xlibris Corporation, 2010).
84
Up today there are more than 100 states in the world, according to Kosovo Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, who recognized this territory as an independent state. Among them
are and 26 EU member states. However, Kosovo is not still a member of any
international political, economic or sport organization. The first two states which
recognized Kosovo proclamation of independence in February 2008 were Afghanistan
and the USA. The number of states who really recognized Kosovo independence is
very questionable.
85
Moscow used the domino effect principle in the case of unification of the Crimean
Peninsula with Russia in the spring 2014 and can use the same principle for the
unification with Russia of any other region of Ukraine or other ex-Soviet republics
with significant number of the Russian-speaking population or at least to support their
autonomous or separatist political movements.
77

There is a claim that the Ossetians are only European nation in the Caucasus, but
this claim is up to now not scientifically proved. The Ossetians themselves believe to
originate from the Sarmatian tribe of Alans. The Ossetians speak a language that is
remotely related to the Persian.
87
See: Ph. M. Parker (ed.), 2VVHWLD :HEVWHU¶V7LPHOLQH+LVWRU\í (ICON
Group International, Inc., 2010).
88
The Serbian Christian Orthodox cultural heritage in Kosovo-Metochia is of the
crucial importance for the national identity of all Serbs (ɉɨɥɢɬɢɱɤɚ ɪɟɜɢʁɚ Ɍɟɦɚ
ɛɪɨʁɚ Ʉɨɫɨɜɨ ɢ Ɇɟɬɨɯɢʁɚ ɩɢɬɚʃɟ ɢɞɟɧɬɢɬɟɬɚ ɢ ɫɪɩɫɤɨɝɧɚɰɢɨɧɚɥɧɨɝ ɢɧɬɟɪɟɫɚ
(Ȼɟɨɝɪɚɞɂɧɫɬɢɬɭɬɡɚɩɨɥɢɬɢɱɤɟɫɬɭɞɢʁɟvol. 35, no. 1, 2013)).
89
Ɇ. ȿɤɦɟɱɢʄ Ⱦɭɝɨ ɤɪɟɬɚʃɟ ɢɡɦɟɻɭ ɤɥɚʃɚ ɢ ɨɪɚʃɚ ɂɫɬɨɪɢʁɚ ɋɪɛɚ ɭ ɇɨɜɨɦ
ɜɟɤɭíȻɟɨɝɪɚɞȿɜɪɨíȭɭɧɬɢí
78

Before 1945 it was hardly known what the exact borders of this province have been
as it historically depended on the power of the local feudal lords (ex. the Brankoviü¶V
or foreign power (ex. the Kosovo Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire) which was
administering the province.
94
The Albanian minority in Serbia within the region of Kosovo-Metochia in the
Socialist Yugoslavia enjoyed all kind of minority rights according to the international
law and even above it. The region has its own president, constitution, parliament,
police, academy of science, law, press, education system, etc. In the other words,
Albanian-run and dominated Kosovo- Metochia was in fact an independent political
VXEMHFW LQ <XJRVODYLD HTXDO ZLWK DOO <XJRVODYLD¶V UHSXEOLFV :LWKLQ VXFK SROLWLFDO
conditions Kosovo Albanians developed a high range of the policy of the oppression
and expulsion from the region of the ethnic Serbs with a strong tendency to separate
the region from the rest of Serbia and include it into a Greater Albania. What S.
MiloãHYLü¶VJRYHUQPHQWGLGLQLWZDVDEROLVKPHQWRIMXVWSROLWLFDOLQGHSHQGHQFH
of both autonomous regions in Serbia ± Vojvodina and Kosovo-Metochia in order to
protect the country from territorial destruction. However, even after 1989 Kosovo
Albanians enjoyed minority rights according to the basic standards of the international
law. Many minorities in Europe or elsewhere today can just dream about minority
ULJKWV OHIW WR .RVRYR $OEDQLDQV E\ 6HUELD¶V JRYHUQPHQW LQ )RU WKH PDWWHU RI
comparison, for instance, the Kurds in Turkey (from 1999 a candidate country for the
EU membership) enjoy no single minority right for the very reason as they are not
recognized as minority group at all. From the legal point of view by the Turkish
government, the Kurds do not even exist in Turkey as the ethnocultural and linguistic
group. For this reason, the process of Kurdish assimilation in Turkey is on the way on.
On the Kurdish question in Turkey, see: M. Heper, The State and Kurds in Turkey:
The Question of Assimilation (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007); C. Saraçoglu,
Kurds of Modern Turkey: Migration, Neoliberalism and Exclusion in Turkish Society
(Tauris Academic Studies, 2010); M. M. Gunter, The Kurds: The Evolving Solution to
the Kurdish Problem in Iraq and Turkey (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011); N.
Beratsky (ed.), The Kurds (Greenhaven Press, 2013); R. Aras, The Formation of
Kurdishness in Turkey: Political Violence, Fear and Pain (LondonNew York:
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014). On Slobodan MiloãHYLüIrom the western
perspective, see: L. Sell, Slobodan Milosevic and the destruction of Yugoslavia
(DurhamLondon: Duke University Press, 2002); A. LeBor, Milosevic. A Biography
(LondonBerlinNew YorkSydney: Bloomsbury, 2012).
80

The Kosovo Albanian birth-rate after the Second World War is highest in Europe
and even higher than in Albania for the very political reason to claim KosovoMetochia to be exclusively Albanian territory ± a claim to be based on the ethnic
rights as the Albanians do not have any historic right on this province ((39*UXMLü
Kosovo Knot (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: RoseDog Books, 2014)).
96
The South Ossetian referendum is called by Georgia as illegal like Kosovo
$OEDQLDQUHIHUHQGXPLVDOVRFDOOHGE\6HUELD¶DDXWKRULWLHVDVQRWOHJDOO\based. At the
moment of the Kosovo Albanian referendum this South Serbian province did not have
any political autonomy. Kosovo-Metochia enjoyed very wide political autonomy until
1989 when it was cancelled by Belgrade in order to prevent separation of the province
from the rest of the country. It was left to Kosovo-Metochia after 1989 cultural and
education autonomy for the local Albanians ± the right which they enjoyed in
Montenegro and the FYR of Macedonia. The South Ossetia was never enjoying such
wide political autonomy (semi-independence) in the USSR as it was the case of
Kosovo-Metochia in the Socialist Yugoslavia till 1989.
97
On the Kosovo Liberation Army, see, for instance pro-Albanian and pro-western
points of view on historical background for the Kosovo Liberation Army with
described its activities up to and including the NATO intervention: H. H. Perritt Jr.,
Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of An Insurgency (University of Illinois,
2008); J. Pettifer, The Kosova Liberation Army: Underground War to Balkan
Insurgency, 19482001 (London: C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd, 2012). The last
book is official history of the Kosovo Liberation Army ordered and financed by the
Albanian-run Kosovo government composed by the Kosovo Liberation Army
81

An unrecognized the Republic of Pridnestrovje, the break-away region of the
Republic of Moldova is very good example of transitional, or uncompleted statehood.
It is de facto not under Moldovan control, possessing all formal attributes of a
VRYHUHLJQVWDWHOLNHWKH³5HSXEOLFRI.RVRYD´3ULGQHVWURYMHRU7UDQVGQLHVWULDIRUPV
part of the world-ZLGHEHOWRI³SVHXGRVWDWHV´9.RORVVRY³$6PDOO6WDWHYVD6HOIProclaimed Republic: Nation-Building, Territorial Identities and Prospects of Conflict
Resolution (The Case of Moldova-7UDQVGQLHVWULD´ 6 Bianchini (ed.), From the
Adriatic to the Caucasus: The Dynamics of (De)Stabilization (Ravenna: Longo
Editore Ravenna, 2001), 87). Abkhazia, the South Ossetia and Pridnestrovje are the
RQO\ ³VWDWHV´ LQ WKH ZRUOG ZKR UHFRJQL]HG WKH VHOI-proclaimed independence of the
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1991. However, it is not done up today by any of
the UN member states.
103
On the issue of violation of minority rights in Albanian-governed KosovoMetochia, including and the policy of ethnic cleansing, see, for instance: The March
3RJURP LQ .RVRYR DQG 0HWRKLMD 0DUFK í ZLWK D VXUYH\ RI GHVWUR\HG
and endangered Christian cultural heritage (Belgrade, 2004); H. Hofbauer,
Experiment Kosovo. Die Rückker des Kolonialismus (Wien: 2008); M. ɑɭɩɢʄ
ɈɬɟɬɚɡɟɦʂɚɄɨɫɨɜɨɢɆɟɬɨɯɢʁɚɡɥɨɱɢɧɢɩɪɨɝɨɧɢɨɬɩɨɪɢ (Ȼɟɨɝɪɚɞɇɨɥɢɬ
2006í 9%6RWLURYLü ³.RVRYR 0HWRKLMD7HQ<HDUV$IWHU 7KHµMarch
3RJURP¶´ɋɪɩɫɤɚɩɨɥɢɬɢɱɤɚɦɢɫɚɨ(Serbian Political Thought), vol. 43, no.
%HOJUDGH,QVWLWXWHIRU3ROLWLFDO6WXGLHVí. Such policy of violation of
minority rights including and ethnic cleansing, at least at such extent, is not recorded
in the cases of the South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Pridnestrovje. According to Miroljub
-HYWLü ERWK .RVRYR $OEDQLDQ VHFHVLRQLVP DQG GHVWUXFWion of Serbian Christian
Orthodox national and cultural heritage in this province have Islamic background (Ɇ
ȳɟɜɬɢʄÄɂɫɥɚɦɫɤɚɫɭɲɬɢɧɚɚɥɛɚɧɫɤɨɝɫɟɰɟɫɢɨɧɢɡɦɚɢɤɭɥɬɭɪɧɨɧɚɫɥɟɻɟɋɪɛɚ³
ɇɚɰɢɨɧɚɥɧɢ ɢɧɬɟɪɟɫ National Interest), vol. 17, no. 2 (Belgrade: Institute for
Political Studies, 2013) í). On Islamic fundamentalism, see: L. Davidson,
Islamic Fundamentalism: An Introduction (Santa Barbara, California: Praeger, 2013).
84

The author of this article has strong belief that the USA and the Russian
administrations simply decided in 2008 to recognize at the moment de facto situation
upon the Balkans and the Caucasus affairs: Kosovo-Metochia will be recognized as
the USA domain, while the South Ossetia and Abkhazia as the Russian one. By now,
DQGRIFRXUVHVXFKD³VHFUHWGLSORPDF\´GHDOFDQQRWEHSURYHGE\DQ\GRFXPHQW
87

118
On political Islam, see: (M. Ayoob, The Many Faces of Political Islam. Religion
and Politics in the Muslim World, The University of Michigan Press, 2008; K. Hroub
(ed.), Political Islam. Context versus Ideology, London: The London Middle East
Institute, 2010; F. Volpi (ed.), Political Islam. A Critical Reader, New York:
Routledge, 2011; P. Mandaville, Islam and Politics/RQGRQí1HZ<RUN: Routledge,
2014).
107

An extra ordinary feature of Bosnia-Herzegovina is that it covers the fault lines
between three major confessions: Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam. From
this point of view, local nationalism(s) are not only ethnic; they are even more
confessional ones.
177
Lexical differences have been a primary criterion for the establishment of a
separate Bosnian language.
178
However, both Serbs from Eastern Herzegovina (regularly) and Western Serbia (in
many cases) are using future tense construction ³MDüXNXSLWL/kupit üX´OLNHLQVWDQGDUG
Bosnian and Croatian.
147

In historical sources the name Bosanski jezik (Bosnian language) is mentioned for
the first time in the year of 1300. It is true that the earliest Slavonic philologists like P.
J. âDIDĚtN-'REURYVNê and J. Kopitar used the term Bosnian language but only as
provincial speech of all inhabitants of the Ottoman Pashaluk of Bosnia but not as a
language of Bosnians in ethnic term.
185
For instance, according to the decree of 1880 for Austro-Hungarian administration
in Bosnia-Herzegovina existed only Boshnjaks who are by confession divided into
those of Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox denominations. In general, AustroHungarian administration in Bosnia-Herzegovina very much favored local Roman
Catholic and Muslim inhabitants at the expense of the Orthodox.
186
It has to be emphasized that even before Austro-Hungarian administration in
Bosnia-Herzegovina the local population used the terms Bosnian ³ERVDQVNL´IRUWKH
language and Bosnians ³%RVDQFL´ IRU WKHPVHOYHV DV LQKDELWDQWV RI WKLV SURYLQFH
alongside with more pure ethnic names Serbian/Serbs and Croatian/Croats.
187
Ottoman Pashaluk of Bosnia before 1683 encompasses and parts of historical
territories of Croatia and Dalmatia.
150

188
Vinko Pribojeviü, a Dominican friar from the island of Hvar in Dalmatia in his De
origine successibusque Slavorum (Venice, 1532) pointed out that Ottoman sultans
appointed many South Slavs as the commanders of his army and that 20.000 of his
guard (the Janissaries) are recruited among the Thracians, Macedonians and Illyrians
IRU 3ULERMHYLü DOO RI WKHP KDYH EHHQ 6RXWK 6ODYV ± aboriginal Balkan people,
VSHDNLQJRQHODQJXDJHWKDWZDVODWHURQFDOOHG³6HUER-&URDW´:LWKWKHKHOSRIWKHP
the Ottomans subjugated many states and peoples in Europe.
189
Mavro Orbini, a Benedictine abbot from Dubrovnik, in his famous pan-Slavic
ERRN ³WKH %LEOH RI SDQ-6ODYLVP´ De regno Sclavorum (in Italian version Il regno
degli Slavi), printed in Pesaro in 1601, was very clear telling that all South Slavs are
speaking the same language and composing one nation within a wider network of
united ethnolinguistic Slavdom. More precisely, he inclined to call all speakers of exSerbo-Croat language of Shtokavian dialect as the Serbs. However, a Croatian
nobleman of German origin from Senj, Pavao Ritter 9LWH]RYLü ±1713) in his
political-ideological-programmatic book Croatia rediviva: Regnante Leopoldo Magno
Caesare, Zagreb, 1700 claimed that all Slavs, including and those in the Balkans,
originated from the Croats and speaking in the essence Croatian language with
UHJLRQDO GLDOHFWV 7KH HVVHQFH RI ERWK 2UELQL¶V DQG 5LWWHU¶V OLNHZLVH 3ULERMHYLü¶V)
writings is that all South Slavs (especially the Shtokavians) are composing one
ehnolinguistic group (in modern sense - nation).
190
³/LQJXLVWLF HQJLQHHULQJ´ RI &URDWLDQ ODQJXDJH FDQ EH IROORZHG HYHQ IURP
when a majority of the most important Croatian scientific, literal and cultural
institutions signed a Declaration upon the name and position of Croatian literal
language ³'HNODUDFLMDRQD]LYXLSRORåDMXKUYDWVNRJNQMLåHYQRJMH]LND´UHTXLULQJWR
151

The first President of post-Yugoslav independent Bosnia and Herzegovina and a
leader of ruling Muslim political Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Alija
Izetbegoviü, was known as an author of nationalistic Islamic Declaration from 1970
according to which any form of multiculturalism and multiconfessionalism was not
possible for the Muslims who have to establish pure Islamic society firstly by
Islamization of the whole Muslim community.
193
The most problematic and unproved in the sources hypothesis upon the ethnic
origins of the Boshnjaks (supported by, for instance, Bosnian linguist 'åHYDG-DKLü) is
that they are posteriors of the mediaeval Bosnian Bogumils who allegedly have been a
separate ethnic group, i.e. not Serbs or Croats.
153

It is believed that the Vlach PHDQV HLWKHU ³IUHH SHRSOH´ ³VKHSKHUGV´ RU IRUPHU
worshipers of the pagan god of herders ± Volos.
195
In Greek language Koutsos PHDQV³ODPH´7KHVlach is considered as a synonym
for the shepherds.
196
This ethnonym is used by the community itself in most cases. According to the
Vlach tradition, the Armanian PHDQV ³D IUHH PDQ´ ³D SHUVRQ ZKR KDV UHPDLQHG LQ
RQHSODFH´DQG³a non-5RPDQLDQ´
197
It means those who have been living at the Mt. Grammos that is on the border
between Albania and Greece.
198
The ethnonym Cincars or Tsintsars is given to the Vlachs probably because the
VSHFLILFSURQXQFLDWLRQ RIWKHSKRQHPH ³F´ZKLFKVRXQGV LQ 9ODFKODQJXDJHDV³WV´
Nevertheless, the Cincar PHDQV D PDQ ZKR LV ³PLVHU´ RU ³VNLQIOLQW´ $FFRUGLQJ WR
one of the hypotheses, the Tsintsars is derived from the Roman Fifth Legion (tsintsi,
means five) since it is believed that the Vlachs are descendents of the Roman soldiers
from this legion, which operated in the Balkans during the time of the Late Roman
Empire.
199
The Choban PHDQVD³KHUGHU´LQ7XUNLVK$OEDQLDQDQG6RXWK6ODYLFODQJXDJHV
This term is of the Oriental origin.
156

On the Balkan Wars and the First World War, see [Gerolymatos A. The Balkan
Wars: Conquest, Revolution and Retribution from the Ottoman Era to the Twenthieth
Century and Beyond, New York: Basic Books, 2002; Gilbert M., The First World
War: A Complete History, New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2004; Hooton
R. E., 3UHOXGHWRWKH)LUVW:RUOG:DU7KH%DONDQ:DUVí, Fonthill, 2014;
Schurman G. J., 7KH%DONDQ :DUV í, CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Platform, 2014].
201
During the last half of the century the natural increase (birth-rate) of the Vlachs is
negative since the parents (remarkably from the urban environments) opted to have a
single-child family.
202
Besides the Vlach geographical dispersion across the Balkan Peninsula, the fact
that they traditionally migrated in summer and winter time makes one of the pivotal
difficulties to fix their real number.
157

Traditionally, the attitudes and policies of regional majority groups towards their
own minorities have been more emotional than rational. Participation of the members
of minority communities into the state institutions was all the time limited and
restricted especially in the periods of political troubles. In general, the idea of
widespread and broad minority rights is not very popular among the macrocommunities in the Balkans. One of the crucial reasons for such attitude (especially
toward those minorities who live territorially in compact masses) is a fear of the
³&\SUXVV\QGURPH´
204
Ⱦɟɪɟɬɢʄ ɂ ȳ, Ⱥɧɬɢʄ ɉ Ⱦ., ȳɚɪɱɟɜɢʄ Ɇ ɋ, ɂɡɦɢɲʂɟɧɨ ɞɨɫɟʂɚɜɚʃɟ ɋɪɛɚ,
Ȼɟɨɝɪɚɞ, 2009.
158

207
They were breeding the horses and sheep on natural pastures in the two main
seasons (summer and winter). The food, cloths, furnishing and transportation were
provided primarily from the horses and sheep. One of the main characteristics of the
Vlach livelihood and lifestyle was that they had in most cases a permanent summer
and winter camps, which have been the only territorial communities (independent and
isolated from both one another and settlements of the other ethnic groups).
208
On the Ottoman-Habsburg wars, see in [Anscombe F. F. (ed.), The Ottoman
%DONDQVí, Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2006; Wheatcroft A.,
The Enemy at the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe, New York:
Basic Books, 2009; Aksan H. V., 2WWRPDQ :DUV í $Q (PSLUH %HVLHJHG,
New York: Routledge, 2013].
160

One of the negative results of these migrations was that many Vlach families
became divided: elders stayed in the old environment while the young men emigrated.
This break-up of kinship network dealt both a psychological and economic blows to
the Vlach community, which felt a great sense of personal insecurity either in old or
new environment.
215
Hostility to the urban Vlachs was primarily directed towards those pro-Greek
members of the Vlach micro-community who did not drop their cultural and political
loyalty to Hellenism. It is true particularly at the turn of the 20th century when the
Serbs, Bulgarians and Greeks struggled over territorial division of geographic
Macedonia, Albania, and Thrace. In this respect, the Vlachs have been pejoratively
FDOOHG DV WKH ³*UHFR-7VLQWVDUV´ ZKR EHWUD\HG QDWLRQDO LQWHUHVWV RI WKH PDFURcommunity.
163

217
For instance, majority of young Vlachs prefer to speak the language of the macrocommunity instead of the Vlach one.
218
On language and identity, see in [Joseph E. J., Language and Identity: National,
Ethnic, Religious /RQGRQí1HZ <RUN 3DOJUDYH 0DFPLOODQ (GZDUGV -
Language and Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009; Watt D.,
Llamas C. (eds.), Language, Borders and Identity, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 2014].
219
The South Epirus is part of Greece. Epirus was divided between Albania and
Greece after the Second Balkan War in 1913 when the independent state of Albania
EHFDPH UHFRJQLVHG E\ WKH JUHDW (XURSHDQ SRZHUV $OEDQLD¶V independence was
proclaimed in the city of Vlorë on November 28th, 1912). On Epirus, see [Hammond
L. G. N., Epirus. The Geography, The Ancient Remains, The History and The
Topography of Epirus and Adjacent Areas, Clarendon P., 1967; Potts J., The Ionian
Islands and Epirus: A Cultural History, Oxford: Signal Books Limited, 2013].
220
See the map on page 194 in [Poulton H., The Balkans. Minorities and States in
Conflict, London: Minority Rights Group, 1994]. The number of the Slav
Macedonians in Albania ranges from 4,000, according to the Albanian sources, to
100,000, according to the Macedonian sources. Most probably, the real figure is
15,000.
165

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221
Albania has an area of 28,748 sq. kms. and, according to the census from 1981 it
had a population of 2,752,300 with the highest population growth rate in Europe
together with Kosovo. The figure of 35,000 Vlach community in Albania is claimed
in [Horak M. 6 ³1DWLRQDO 0LQRULWLHV LQ $OEDQLD ±´ +RUDN 0 6 HG
East European National Minorities: 1919±1980, Colorado, 1985]. The other two
figures are put by the independent researchers and the international institutions and
organisations for protection of human and minority rights. There are even some
DXWKRUV ZKR XQMXVWLILDEO\ FODLP WKDW PDMRULW\ RI $OEDQLD¶V 2UWKRGR[ EHOLHYHUV DUH
originally ethnic Vlachs. This claim is surely not supported by historical sources.
222
This Greek claim is based on the fact that before the Second World War there were
400,000 Orthodox believers in Albania who have been registered as the members of
the Independent Orthodox Church in Albania, which used exclusively the Greek
ODQJXDJH LQ VHUYLFH 0DMRULW\ RI $OEDQLD¶V 2UWKRGRx population attended the Greek
ODQJXDJH VFKRROV $IWHU WKH 6HFRQG :RUOG :DU $OEDQLD¶V VRFLHW\ ZDV GLYLGHG
according to the religious affiliation into the Roman Catholics (10%), Orthodox
(20%) and Muslims (70%). The Orthodox population, according to the ethnic
belonging, was composed by the Greeks, Vlachs, Montenegrins and Macedonians (i.
e., the Macedonian Slavs). The Serbs officially do not live in Albania, while the
Montenegrins are separated from the Serbs. Nevertheless, after 1967, when Albania
officially proclaimed to be the first world atheist state, there is no available records on
UHOLJLRXVDIILOLDWLRQRI$OEDQLD¶VFLWL]HQVRQWKHLVVXHRISROLWLFDOLPSULVRQPHQWRIWKH
ethnic minorities members, see in [Amnesty International, Albania: Political
Imprisonment and the Law, AI EUR, 11. April 1984, p. 13]). For sure, the biggest part
RI $OEDQLD¶V 2UWKRGR[ LQKDELWDQWV LV RI WKH *UHHN RULJLQ $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH
FHQVXV WKH\ UHSUHVHQWHG RI WRWDO $OEDQLD¶V SRSXODWLRQ $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH
census there were 95% of total population who declared themselves to be the ethnic
Albanians. The 5% belonged to the ethnolinguistic minorities. After 1967 there were
more than 600 Orthodox churches destroyed and other 600 converted to other
purposes like the grain store-houses, theatres, coffee shops, stables, etc. [Human
Rights in Albania: Hearing Before the Sub-Committee on Human Rights and
International Organizations of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, statement by
Nikolaos A. Stavrou on January 25th, 1984].
166

About the minority rights, including and those on the education in the mother
tongue, see in [Fishman J., Language and Ethnicity in Minority Sociolinguistic
Perspectives, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd., 1989; Kymlicka W., The Rights of
Minority Cultures, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000].
232
%\QRZWKHUHLVQRVSHFLILF(XURSHDQ8QLRQ¶VVWDQGDUGVLQUHJDUGWRWKHSURWHFWLRQ
of minority rights, but general European standards in the field may be found in several
Europe-wide instruments which can provide the basic guidelines for minority
169

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234
Romania required the north-west Bulgarian province of the South Dobruja (the
North Dobruja was already included into Romania accordiQJWRWKH%HUOLQ&RQJUHVV¶
decision in 1878) in 1913 as a compensation for giving up the Vlachs (Wallachians)
LQ0DFHGRQLDZKRKDYHEHHQFRQVLGHUHGE\5RPDQLD¶VDXWKRULWLHVDQGLQWHOOLJHQWVLD
as a Balkan minority of the Romanian ethnolinguistic origin. The geographichistorical territory of Macedonia was divided in 1913 between Serbia, Bulgaria and
*UHHFH 6HUELD UHFHLYHG WKH ³9DUGDU´ 0DFHGRQLD *UHHFH JRW WKH ³$HJHDQ´
0DFHGRQLDDQG%XOJDULDDQQH[HGWKH³3LULQ´0DFHGRQLD5RPDQLDGLGQRWSDUWLFLSDWH
in division of Macedonia. The South Dobruja was returned back to Bulgaria in 1940
while the North Dobruja remained within Romania up today. The region of Thrace
was divided in 1913 between the Ottoman Empire (the East Thrace) and Bulgaria (the
West Thrace). However, in 1919 the biggest portion of Bulgarian Thrace became
included into Greece. Bulgaria temporally occupied both portions of Dobruja in 1916
DQGWKH:HVW7KUDFHLQDQG7KHPLQRULW\JURXSV¶H[FKDQJHVIROORZHGDOO
of these border changes. For instance, after the First World War there were 250,000
%XOJDULDQV ZKR OHIW WKH 6RXWK 'REUXMD WKH ³9DUGDU´ 0DFHGRQLD WKH ³$HJHDQ´
0DFHGRQLDWKH(DVWDQGWKH:HVW7KUDFHDQGPLJUDWHGWRWKHWHUULWRU\RI³1HXLOO\´
Bulgaria; 360,000 Turks and Muslims left Macedonia and the West Thrace, 100,000
left Bulgaria and 25,000 left Crete to Turkey; 650,000 Greeks from Smyrna region in
Asia Minor, 260,000 from Trabzon area, 50,000 from the South-East Asia Minor and
260,000 from the East Thrace emigrated from Turkey to Greece after the GreekTurkish War of 1919±1923 and additional 50,000 of the Greeks left Bulgaria to
Greece after 1919 [Westermann Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte, Braunschweig,
S PDS ʋ 9 .DQHY . ³/DZ DQG 3ROLWLFV RQ (WKQLF DQG 5HOLJLRXV
MinRULWLHV LQ %XOJDULD´ .UDVWHYD $ HG Communities and Identities in Bulgaria,
Ravenna: Longo Editore Ravenna, 1998, pp. 66±68; Genov G., The Legal Status of
Minorities, Sofia, 1929, p. 125; Ladas S., The Exchange of Minorities: Bulgaria,
Greece and Turkey, New York: Macmillan, 1932, pp. 122±123]. According to the
Greek historiography, in 1923 there were 1,100,000 Greeks who moved from Turkey
to Greece, while some 380,000 Muslims were transferred from Greece to Turkey
[Clogg R., A Concise History of Greece, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1992, p. 101]. The Greek-Turkish population exchange in 1923 was in accordance to
the Convention on compulsory exchange of population between Greece and Turkey,
signed in January 1923. The war was over in July 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne. On
territorial clams by the Balkan nations, see in [6RWLURYLü%9Emigration, Refugees
DQG (WKQLF &OHDQVLQJ 7KH 'HDWK RI <XJRVODYLD í, Vilnius: Lithuanian
8QLYHUVLW\RI(GXFDWLRQDO6FLHQFHV3UHVVSSí].
171

7KH ³5RPDQLDQ &KXUFK´ ZDV FRQVHFUDWHG LQ 6RILD LQ 1923. However, the
³$URPDQLDQ&KXUFK´H[LVWHGLQ%XOJDULDLQWKHWRZQRI*RUQD'MXPD\DIURP
Both of them played an important role in the formation and maintenance of the
Aromanian ethnocultural and linguistic identity. Undoubtedly, due to the activities of
aforementioned institutions, together with the Aromanian Youth Association
(established in 1923), the Aromanian language, traditions and customs were very
much preserved in Bulgaria. These institutions have been closed in 1948 when the
3HRSOH¶V 5epublic of Bulgaria became fully involved into the Soviet politicaleconomic bloc. After 1948 the Aromanians in Bulgaria have been officially
considered as the Vlachs and later as ethnic Bulgarians who spoke a neo-Latin
language.
239
According to J. B. Schechtman, under this treaty it was exchanged circa 61,000
Bulgarians and about 100,000 Romanians (the latter number includes and ethnic
Vlachs) [Schechtman B. J., European Population Transfers (1939±1945), New York:
Oxford University Press, 1946, pp. 406±409].
173

Before this exodus of 1989 it happened twice in the communist-Bulgaria that
³%XOJDULDQ FLWL]HQV RI 7XUNLVK RULJLQ´ PLJUDWHG WR 7XUNH\ LQ ±1951 (154,000
persons) and between 1969 and 1978 (130,000 persons).
241
In the recent Bulgarian history it occurred twice between 1878 and 1945 that the
Bulgarian government persuaded campaigns of forced conversion and name changes
among the minority groups for the sake of Bulgarization (during the wars of 1912±
1913 and in 1942±1944).
242
The Karakachans and the Vlachs have a common feature in the point of livelihood
and denomination, but these two minority groups differs from one another in the
terms of language: the Vlach language is a neo-Latin, while the Karakachan language
is a neo-Hellenic (it belongs to the northern dialect of the modern Greek language).
The Karakachans are either 1) descendents of the ancient Balkan peoples (the
Thracians, the Illyrians) who have been living in pre-classical and classical times in
the mountainous areas of the southern parts of the peninsula, but became Hellenized;
or 2) they are descendents from sedentary Greek peasants who left their settlements in
the late Middle Ages and became the nomadic shepherds. The Karakachans
themselves believe that the Mt. Pindus in Greece is their original home place. Today
they are living in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia. At any case, the
majority of the present-day Vlachs and Karakachans is bilingual especially the males.
243
$UWLFOH ʋ RI WKH &RQVWLWXWion of 1991 recognises the rights of the ethnic,
religious and linguistic minority members in Bulgaria to self-protect and develop their
culture and self-identity by using the mother tongue, along with the compulsory study
of the Bulgarian language.
244
Monitoring the EU Accession Process: Minority Protection 2001, Open Society
Institute, Budapest, 2001.
174

Undoubtedly, the claim by some experts in the Vlach studies that in the North
Bulgaria it can be found about 400,000 Vlachs is overwhelming exaggeration of the
truth [European Parliament Working Document, 2±119/1985].
246
.UDVWHYD $ ³(WKQLFLW\´ .UDVWHYD $ HG Communities and Identities in
Bulgaria), Ravenna: Longo Editore Ravenna, 1998, p. 19.
175

0DQ\ UHVHDUFKHUV DQG VFKRODUV MXGJH WKDW WKH ODUJHVW SDUW RI
WKH %DONDQ9ODFKVDUHFRQFHQWUDWHGLQ*UHHFH7KH FHQVXVRI
UHFRUGHG9ODFKVLQ*UHHFHEXWDFFRUGLQJWRWKHODVWFHQVXV
LQ *UHHFH WKDW DOORZHG SHRSOH WR H[SUHVV WKHLU HWKQLF LGHQWLW\ LQ
WKHUH ZHUH 9ODFKV LQ WKLV VWDWH +RZHYHU D UHDO
QXPEHURIWKH9ODFKVLQ*UHHFHWRGD\LVXSWR
³&RQVWLWXWLRQDO&RXUW-XGJHPHQWʋRI$SULOst, 19´Official Gazetteʋ
Sofia, 1992. The legal provisions, which banned the establishment of political parties
on ethnic basis have been included in the agreement upon creation of the Union of
Democratic Forces (in 1990) in the Political Parties Act (in 1990) and in the postcommunist Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria (adopted on July 12th, 1991).
248
Notably, the Bulgarian constitutional and legal provisions from the time of
OLEHUDWLRQLQRQZDUGJXDUDQWHHGWKHHTXDOLW\RIDOO%XOJDULD¶VFLWLzens regardless
on their ethnic, religious or linguistic origin. It included the rights to exercise minority
ethnocultural features, to practice their religion and to speak the mother tongue.
However, in practice, non-Bulgarians have been often under political pressure. The
first Vlach cultural association in Bulgaria was established in 1895 and the first
Romanian-language school in Bulgaria was opened in 1896. Both of them have been
registered with the purpose to develop Vlach education and culture [Hristu V.,
³$URPDQLLGLQ%XOJDULD´Graiul romanescʋ±7, 1931, p. 86].
249
Poulton H., The Balkans. Minorities and States in Conflict, London: Minority
Rights Group, 1994, p. 189.
250
Regardless that some of the Vlach emigrants from Greece claim the figure of
60RIWKH*UHHN9ODFKVWKH³)HGHUDO8QLRQRI(XURSHDQ1DWLRQDOLWLHV´HVWLPDWHG
176
247

7KH9ODFKUHSUHVHQWDWLYHVFRPSODLQHGVHYHUDOWLPHVWRWKH(XURSHDQ&RPPXQLW\¶V
QRZ8QLRQ¶V³%XUHDXRI/HVVHU.QRZQ/DQJXDJHV´XSRQWKHQHJOHFWLQJWKHXVDJH
of the Vlach language in Greece. However, some of the leading Vlach figures in
Greece did not support those critics and openly defended the standpoint of the Greek
government. Nevertheless, the Vlach émigré organizations in France, Germany, the
179

USA, etc. on their regular meetings are heavily condemning the Greek linguistic
policy and especially the practice that the Greek Vlachs are pressed to use the Greek
alphabet in order not to antagonize the local authorities. The Vlach diaspora is
fighting for the use of the Latin alphabet like it is a practice in Romania (after 1863).
180

A geographic-historical Macedonia was divided in 1913 between Serbia, Bulgaria
and Greece. This Balkan province was occupied by the Ottoman Turks in 1371 and
liberated from the Ottoman lordship in 1912. About the Macedonian issue, see in
[Poulton H., Who are the Macedonians?, London: Hurst & Company, 1995; Danforth
M. L., The Macedonian Conflict. Ethnic Nationalism in a Transitional World,
Princeton: Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 1997; Brailsford N. H.,
Macedonia: Its Races and their Future, London: Methuen & Co., 1909.
257
Andreev V. (and others), The Republic of Macedonia, Skopje, 1995, pp. 2±3.
181

On Kosovo case, see in [Hofbauer H., Eksperiment Kosovo. Povratak
kolonijalizma, Beograd: Albatros Plus, 2009 (Hofbauer H., Experiment Kosovo. Die
Rückkehl des Kolonialismus)].
259
The Romanian struggle over Macedonia lacked in comparison with the Bulgarian,
Serbian and Greek efforts a national clergy, which will attract the Vlachs to the
Romanian church, but not to the Bulgarian, Serb or Greek ones. Anyway, the
Ottoman authorities supported the Romanian efforts at the expense of the Greek
Patriarchate especially in the Bitola district in Macedonia. After diplomatic
intervention in Istanbul by the Romanian ambassador in 1903 it was established a
separate Aromanian ecclesiastical autonomy in Macedonia.
183

It was established in Bucharest at the turn of the 20th century most important Vlach
cultural organization under the name of Macedonian-Romanian Society for
Intellectual Culture. This organization was during the First and the Second Balkan
Wars (1912±1913) the main proponents against territorial division of Macedonia
between Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. Instead, it fought for Macedonian autonomous
province. The same Vlach organization was presented at the Versailles Peace
Conference in 1919 requiring establishment of the autonomous Macedonia with an
independent canton for the Vlachs, which will include the area of the Pindus Mt. The
,WDOLDQVHVWDEOLVKHGGXULQJWKH6HFRQG:RUOG:DULQ*UHHFHDQDXWRQRPRXV³3LQGXV
Principality´ XQGHU WKHLU RZQ SURWHFWRUDWH WKDW ZDV FRQVLGHUHG DV WKH 9ODFK HWKQLF
state in this portion of the peninsula. The area of the Principality covered Epirus,
Macedonia and Thessaly. The prince was Alcibiades Diamandi. The Principality had
and its own armed forces ± WKH ³5RPDQ /HJLRQ´ FRPSRVHG E\ WKRVH 9ODFKV ZKR
supported the Italian fascism [Averoff-Tossizza E., The Call of the Earth, New York:
New Rochelle, 1981].
261
Poulton H., Who are the Macedonians?, London: Hurst & Company, 1995, p. 94.
184

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268
This is an example of applying the rational choice theory to ethnic identity and
interethnic relations. The proponents of this direction of thinking stress that the
individuals are trying always to chose the most optimal option from the corpus of
available alternatives of ethnonational identity; i.e. they are choosing such alternative
which may give them the highest gains and benefits. Accordingly, the ethnic (or
national) group is only a coalition of individuals and a result of their rational way of
thinking, which helps them to obtain as better as position in economic and political
FRPSHWLWLRQ >%DQWRQ 0 ³7KH $FWRUV¶ 0RGHO RI (WKQLF 5HODWLRQV´ +XWFKLQVRQ -
Smith A. (eds.), Ethnicity, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 98±104].
According to many authors, the notion of particular ethnicity is a product of social
UHODWLRQVUDWKHUWKDQD³QDWXUDO´ HVVHQFH $WDQ\FDVHWKHFKDUDFWHURIHWKQLFLW\LV D
³YDULDEOH DQG QHYHU HQGLQJ SURFHVV WKURXJK ZKLFK WKH DFWRUV LGHQWLI\ DQG DUH
identified by the others on the basis of the Us-Them dichotomies established on the
basis of cultural features, which are presumed to have derived from common origins
DQGZKLFKDUHGLVWLQFWLQVRFLDOLQWHUDFWLRQV´>3RXWLJQDW36WUHLII-Fenart J., Théories
GHO¶HWKQLFLWp, Paris: PUF, 1995, p. 154]. On the ethnic and national identity, see in
[Smith A., The Ethnic Origins of Nations, Oxford, 1986; Anderson B., Imagined
Communities /RQGRQí1HZ <RUN 9HUVR &RUQHOO 6 +DUWPDQQ ' Ethnicity
and Race: Making Identities in a Changing World 7KRXVDQG 2DNVí/RQGRQí1HZ
Delhi: Pine Forge Press, 2007; Jenkins R., Rethinking Ethnicity, London: SAGE
Publications Ltd, 2008; Comaroff L. J., Comaroff J., Ethnicity, Inc., Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 2009; Eriksen H. T., Ethnicity and Nationalism:
Anthropological Perspectives, New York: Pluto Press, 2010; Coakley J., Nationalism,
Ethnicity & The State: Making & Breaking Nations /RV $QJHOHVí/RQGRQ 6DJH
2012; Gat A., Yakobson A., Nations: The Long History and Deep Roots of Political
Ethnicity and Nationalism &DPEULGJHí1HZ <RUN &DPbridge University Press,
2013].
269
In this article we regarded an ethnic group as a part of an ethnie that is living either
in non-national state or in non-national-language environment, but preserved its
language, culture, customs and are aware of its ethnic self-identity.
270
Still the Vlachs identified themselves as different from their neighbors from the
points of language, culture, tradition, customs and origin.
190